Portable device to aid hearing



Aug. 23, 1932. c. CARROLL PORTABLE DEVICE TO AID HEARING Char/e5 Carro/LINVENTOR ATTORN EYS so for the purpose intended.

Patented Aug. 23, 1 932 "cUNI TED STATES! P TENT;

' QHARLES oAImoLu, or-cnrcned nnmors v i romance DEVICE {no ALI-DHEARING- Application filedlDecemher 29, mam serial, m. 505.4451

My invention- V relates to improvements portable devices to aid hearingand it. COIL? A further object of my lnventlon 1s topro videaporta-bledevice adapted. for treating a. patient. normally deaf whereby mucousmateria-l in the; auditory passageways; may be dislodged'therebyenabling the patient to hear.

A; turther object. is to provide a-portable device haying means forrapidly vibrating a patients head. 7 1 A further object of my invention.is to. provide a device, or the type described whichjis compact, light,and easily. carried:- tromi. place to place" A further objector-myinvention is to-p150 vide a device. of the type, described which issimple in construction, durable, and eflicicnt Other objects andadvantages willlappear in the following specification, and the novelfeatures of the invention Will be particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

invention is illustrated int-he ZLGCQIIIIPQ: nying drawing, :Eormingpart oi this application, in which Figure 1; is a persective view oimydevice showing a container and the device, as: dis e posed in thecontainer,

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view oi the container showing;thedev-ice disposed therein, 1

Figure 3 is a section takenalong the line 45 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a section taken along the line 4-1: of Figure 3-showin-g thestructure for supporting one or therollers, I

Figure 5. is a section taken along the; line 5 bow-5, of Figure:showingthe construction of the table and. the, means. by which it ismountedon the rollers, and;

N Figured is. a, section takenalong the line 66. of Figure. 8. showingthe structure by meansof which the, ends of certain rollers aresupported...

In carrying, out my imlcntion I provide a container or box 11' havingsides 2, ends 3.;

anda bottom 4a The side. 5. ofthe bottom 4:

is provided with a-.pad or insulation covering A pair of parallelandspaced-apart sup? porting members 7. and 8; are removably disposedwithin, the box If on the. pad 6' and. are held in, their spacedapartrelation by means of spacing membersQM Equally spaced-apartrollersor cylinders.- 10', .11, and 12 are trans.- versely disposed, inparallelism 'betweenthe supporting members, 7. and 8 and are mounted on.shaits; 13.

The, endportionsof'the shafts 13, "on which the cylinders 16) and" 11.are. mounted-are removabl y and, rotatably disposed in bearings 14:carried'by thesupporting members 7an'd8. The bearings-1.4 are. proyidedwith upright portions 15connected with the supporting members, 7 and 8,between; whichthe end portionsozfi the, shafts 1.31am disposed. Platemembers 16 are fixcdly mounted on the, supporting members: Tand 8.: abutthe: ends of. the shafts 1'3 or. preventing an; endthrust orlongitudinal mpvementot the cylinders 10' and; 11-. with respect, to thesupporting Inernbers The shiaiitlii on which the cylinder 122 ismounted. is rotatably moimtecl in bearing-members; 1'1 which are:fixedly mounted (II-I the-supportingmembers'z and 8. One end 18 of? theshaft 13- on which; the cylinder 12 is mounted ext-ends: through its:respective bearing member 17 andis operatively con- .nectedvwith-a!motor'lill disposed in thebox 1.

respective end portions. Rollers 24 are rotatably mounted on thesupporting members 7 and 8 and are positioned in close proximity to theends of the cylinders 20 and 21 for limiting a longitudinal movement orend thrust of the cylinders.

A table 25 is provided having spaced-apart and oppositely disposedsupporting members 26 which may be constructed of a resilient materialsuch as rubber.- The supporting members 26 are disposed between flangemembers 27 and 28 and are held" in vfrictional engagement therewith, theflange members 2. and 28 being fixedly connected with the table member25, Flange. members 28 extend over the ends of the shafts 22 forpreventing an end movement of the table 25 with respect to the cylinders20 and 21. A resilient memher or cushioning pad 29 is disposed on thetable 25. The pad 29'may be made of rubber or other suitable material inthe same manner as the table supporting members 26 and the pad 6. Acovering 30 which may be of any suitable material such as leather orcloth is disposed overthe cushioning pad 29 and is connected with thetable 25 by means of tacks 31. The bottoms 32 of the table supportingmembers 26 rest on the end portions 23 of the shafts 22 Opposite ends ofthe table 25 are provided with resilient means such as springs 33havingone end connected with the table as at 34 and the other en'd'connectedwith an end plate 16 as at 35. The spring members .33 areprovided forholding the table supportingmembers 26 in engagement with the endportions. 23 "of "the shafts 22. The motor 19 is provided with wires 36which may be connected with an electricplug, not

shown, for being connected with 'a source of current. V W 1 7 From theforegoing description of the va rious parts of the device, the operationthere'- of may be readily understood.

Vhen itis desired that the device be operated the wires 36 are connectedwith a source of current whereby the motor is energized for rapidlyrotating the cylinder'12. The remainder of the cylinders are alsorapidly rotated by reason of being in operative engagement with thecylinders 12. All of the cylinders are made of wood or other suitablematerial so that when they are revolving at a high rate of speed theywill transmit a vibratory effect to the table 25. I The pads 6 and 29,together with the-supporting member 26, are made of a suitablecushioning material for the purpose. of softening the vibrations of therapidly rotating cylinders. WVhen the cylinders are rotating, a side ofthe patients head may be positioned inengagement with the upholstering30 of the table 25 whereby the vibratory motions of-the table may becommunicated to. the patientss head for dislodging mucous substances inthe auditory passageways for" permitting "sound waves to penetrate tothe eardrum whereby the patient may be enabled to hear.

I claim:

1. A device to aid hearing comprising a supporting frame, a plurality ofspaced-apart cylinders rotatably carried by said supporting frame,secondary cylinders disposed between the spaced-apart cylinders and infrictional engagement therewith, said secondary cylinders beingsupported by the spacedapart cylinders, said spaced-apart and secondarycylinders being mounted on shafts the end portions of said shaftsextending beyond the ends of said cylinders, the end portions of saidspaced-apart cylinder shafts beingrotatably mounted in bearing memberscarried by said supporting frame, a table provided with cushioningsupporting members, said supporting members being mounted on the endportions of said. secondary cylinder shafts, a power unit, meansoperatively connecting the power unit with the cylinders whereby thesame may be rapidly rotated, and means for preventing a longitudinalmovement of said spaced-apart cylinders, said means comprising platemembers mounted on the supporting frame and abutting theends of saidspaced-apart cylinder shafts.

2. A device to aid hearing comprising a supporting frame, a plurality ofspaced-apart cylinders rotatably carried by said supporting frame,secondary cylinders disposed between the spaced-apart cylinders and infrictional engagement therewith, said secondary cylinders beingsupported by, the spacedapart cylinders, said spaced-apart and secondarycylinders being mounted on shafts, the end portions of said shaftsextending beyond the 'endsof said cylinders, the end portions of saidspaced-apart cylinder shafts being rotatablymounted in bearing memberscarried bysaid supporting frame, a table provided with cushioningsupporting members, said supporting members being mounted on the endportions of said secondary cylinder shafts, a power unit, meansoperatively connecting the power unit with the cylinders whereby thesame may be rapidly rotated, means for preventing a longitudinalmovement of said spaced-apart cylinders, said means comprising platemembersmounted on the supporting frame and abutting the ends of saidspaced-apart cylinder shafts, and roller means mounted on saidsupporting frame, said rollermeans being positioned in close proximityto the ends of said secondary cylinders, said rollers being adapted forengaging the ends of said secondary cylinders for limiting alongitudinal movement of said cylinders.

3IA device to aid hearing comprising a supporting frame, a plurality ofspaced-apart ing frame, secondary cylinders disposed between thespaced-apart cylinders and in frictional engagement therewith, saidsecondary cylinders being supported by the spaced-apart cylinders, saidspaced-apart and secondary cylinders being mounted on shafts, the endportions of said shafts extending beyond the ends of said cylinders, theend portions of said spaced-apart cylinder shafts being rotatablymounted in bearing members carried by said supporting frame, a tableprovided with cushioning supporting members, said sup porting membersbeing mounted on the end portions of said secondary cylinder shafts, apower unit, means operatively connecting the power unit with thecylinders whereby the same may be rapidly rotated, means for preventinga longitudinal movement of said spaced-apart cylinders, said meanscomprising plate members mounted on the supporting frame and abuttingthe ends of said spacedapart cylinder shafts, roller means mounted onsaid supporting frame, said roller means being positioned in closeproximity to the ends of said secondary cylinders, said rollers beingadapted for engaging the ends of said secondary cylinders for limiting alongitudinal movement of said cylinders, and plate means mounted on saidtable and positioned in close proximity to the ends of said secondarycylinder shafts whereby said table may be properly positioned withrespect to said secondary cylinders.

4. A device to aid hearing comprising a supporting frame, a plurality ofspaced-apart cylinders rotatably carried by said supporting frame,secondary cylinders disposed between the spacedapart cylinders and infrictional engagement therewith, said secondary cylinders beingsupported by the spaced-apart cylinders, said spaced-apart and secondarycylinders being mounted on shafts, the end portions of said shaftsextending beyond the ends of said cylinders, the end portions of saidspaced-apart cylinder shafts being rotatably mounted in bearing memberscarried by said supporting frame, a table provided with cushioningsupporting members, said supporting members being mounted on the endportions of said secondary cylinder shafts, a power unit, meansoperatively connecting the power unit with the cylinders whereby thesame may be rapidly rotated, means for preventing a longitudinalmovement of said spaced-apart cylinders, said means comprising platemembers mounted on the supporting frame and abutting the ends of saidspaced-apart cylinder shafts, roller means mounted on said supportingframe, said roller means being positioned in close proximity to the endsof said secondary cylinders, said rollers being adapted for engaging theends of said secondary cylinders for limiting a longitudinal movement ofsaid cylinders, plate means mounted on said table and positioned inclose proximity to the ends of said secondary cylinder shaftswherebysaid table may be properly positioned with respect to saidsecondary cylinders, and spring means connected with said table and thesupporting frame for holding the table cushioning supporting members inpositive engagement with the end portions of said secondary cylindershafts. I CHARLES CARROLL.

